written by Greg Pak
drawn by Gang Hyuk Lim
colored by Federico Blee
As an Asian, and more specifically a Filipino, who has been reading comic books, most of them published by Marvel Comics, for three-fourths of my worldly existence, it was a treat for me to finally see Marvel debut a Filipino superhero, an aquatic superheroine named Pearl Pangan and codenamed Wave...or at least, a Filipino superhero who gets to actually do something other than get blown up in less than two pages (more on that in a minute). Designed by Filipino artist Leinil Yu, Wave opens this issue in a brief, and less-than-congenial encounter with an also-debuting Chinese superhero named Aero before both of them get taken out by demons of Muspelheim. This is, after all a "War of the Realms" crossover.
Meanwhile, the main story of the issue sees longtime Agents of Atlas leader Jimmy Woo assemble a new lineup of Asian heroes who include Shang-Chi, Amadeus Cho or the hero-formerly-known-as-Hulk-now-named-Brawn, and Cindy Moon aka Silk to deal with the threat of Muspelheim which has emerged in South Korea. As it turns out, however, a team of Korean superheroes is already on the scene, though even their combined strength may not be enough to push back against the threat of Queen Sindr.
Rather than simply present a straight-up action story, writer Greg Pak (who wrote the cliche-ridden but entertaining Planet Hulk, and the equally cliche-ridden, not-so-entertaining World War Hulk), gets right up on a soapbox and starts preaching about "unity," first by having a Chinese and Filipino hero clash in the sea and fall prey to a common enemy, and then by having Jimmy Woo pose a question to his team members of various nationalities that starts an argument about a pear.
While I often enjoy socially-conscious comic books, or at least, stories that attempt to do more than just deliver the punch-up of the week, it really annoys me when the stories are this heavy-handed, or border on being on the nose. Not only that, but writer Pak's "take" on the tensions between China and the Philippines is either utterly insensitive or a ridiculously simplistic way of describing a neo-imperialistic superpower's ambitions which have placed it at odds not only with the Philippines, but with Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Resolving this issue isn't just about "putting aside our differences" because that's just a cop-out from addressing the fact that someone is right and someone is wrong.
I know Pak isn't going for some deep commentary here, but I definitely feel he hasn't given this issue the gravitas it deserves, and his cornball "united we stand, divided we fall" theme is, of course full of noble intentions, but just feels so clunkily executed that I could never really get into it. Also, Brawn's bickering with Ms. Marvel early in the issue feels a little off-putting; essentially, it seems to suggest that he's on the Agents of Atlas because he was kicked, albeit temporarily, off the Champions, and given that Brawn was a founding member of that group it seems like a badly-conceived excuse for Woo to draft him. Pak can be a decent writer when he's on his game, so the lack of quality of his work here is somewhat regrettable.
Fortunately for Pak, artist Gang Hyuk Lim saves the day with some really, really strong artwork. He pretty much ticks all the boxes, from clean linework, to storytelling ability, to a nice eye for detail. Federico Blee contributes some nicely vibrant colors as well. I confess I was a little disappointed to learn that variant cover artist Mico Suayan didn't contribute any interiors, but seeing Lim's work pretty much banished any misgivings I may have had over the art.
Pak's missteps notwithstanding, the issue is a decent setup for the inevitable team-up of this ragtag new team that will follow, and while this infusion of Asians into Marvel's still mostly Caucasian-populated universe is still most welcome, Pak will definitely have to raise his game as this series goes on because we need good stories, not just hamhanded displays of tokenism. Diversity is a very good thing, but for it to be more than just a slogan, it should be married to the engaging storytelling that has made Marvel one of the most beloved pop-culture properties in the world.
6.5/10
As a post-script, I'd like to add that whatever my feelings about this issue, I remain extremely glad and grateful for the introduction of Wave. I still remember with some bitterness how Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca introduced the Triumph Division, a whole team of Filipino superheroes, back when they were doing Invincible Iron Man, only to literally blow them up on the first page of their appearance, and worse still, how that was basically the last time we even saw a Filipino superhero up until this issue. I hope Wave carves a position of prominence for herself in the months to come.
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